Salima, on the shores of Lake Malawi, is probably best known for playing host to the world music festival Lake of Stars, where backpackers and music fans flock to drink bottles of "green" (the local beer), lie on the sand and party into the small hours. But life for the people of nearby Chidzanja village is a very different story.
Here, subsistence farming is the main activity and concerns centre around whether their water supply is clean, if their land is going to flood in the rainy season or whether their crops will fail.
Thankfully, with the help of ActionAid, the local people can now also turn their attention to giving their children an education.
In the past few years, ActionAid has built classrooms for the local school and houses for the teachers to encourage them to remain in their posts. It has also set up measures to get more girls into school, including the establishment of a mothers' group and a girls' group.
"We need to understand why parents are preventing their children from attending school," says Emily London, a representative from Chidzanja mothers' group. "It can often be down to a lack of essential items, such as clothes, soap, books and food," she explains. To address this situation, the women now make money from a vegetable garden, which they use to pay for items such as school books, or uniforms for girls who cannot attend school due to problems stemming from poverty. With the help of ActionAid, the girls' group have also employed the first female teacher at the school.
"I'm proud that the girls' group brought a female teacher to the community," says 13-year-old Mbiche Munthali, who chairs the group. "She is an inspiration to me." Previously, the all-male teaching staff had deterred some girls from attending, and there had been little support for girls going through the often confusing stages of puberty. The girls' group is a forum for girls to discuss issues affecting them that they may not feel comfortable about discussing with their mothers. Once aired, girls are then encouraged by their peers to bring the issue to their mother or the female teacher.
Both the mothers' and girls' group have empowered the local community to bring about their own development. "I'm playing a big role in my community," says Victoria Munthali, who was put through school with the help of ActionAid and attended a leadership training course. "I feel confident now. If ActionAid left the community, I would be able to take the lead to further develop my village."
Discover grassroots development for yourself
If you are interested in the work ActionAid does to empower local communities, then you may be the person we are looking for to join a unique immersion week in Rwanda.
The Guardian has teamed up with ActionAid to offer one reader the chance to experience what day-to-day life is like in a Rwandan village. You will be hosted by a family and join in their daily routines, while also being given the chance to explore ActionAid projects and talk to the people whose lives have been positively affected. Travelling with a Guardian journalist and photographer, you will also be guided to produce daily blogs about your experiences which will appear on this site. Find out how to enter here.
